Appaloosa Blues (Sisters of Spirit #8)

by Nancy Radke

  "Better 'n better," Adam emphasized, and Jo saw their eyes rest speculatively on her. Karen picked up the missing sandals and held them out to Jo.

  "You'd better slip these on again."

  "Thanks." She fumbled her feet into them, almost falling over.

  "What's the latest word with your family?" Johnny asked.

  "Actually, pretty good." Jo repeated most of the conversation she'd had with her grandfather in the car.

  "That's great," Johnny exclaimed, hugging Karen to him. "Don't take any longer than you have to." Karen nodded eagerly.

  "I thought...maybe, Sunday at church, we could speak to each other briefly. That would be public. I could do it when Gramps would see. Just a few words, but it'd make a start." Jo looked at the others. Johnny and Karen were nodding in agreement, but Adam was gazing at the far horizon, probably intent on plans of his own.

  Well, she'd find them out soon enough. "Good night," she said.

  "Good night, Jo," Adam responded, then pulled her to him and kissed her once, hard, before releasing her to whisper, "See you soon."

  "Good night," Jo repeated firmly, and he grinned and waved, then walked away with Johnny.

  "What happened with you two?" inquired Karen as they walked back toward the house.

  "Don't ask," she was emphatically instructed.

  "Whatever," Karen said with a nonchalant shrug, "but there's hay in your hair...and your blouse is buttoned wrong, and you'd better straighten your skirt before we go in."

  They both looked like they had done more than simply take an evening stroll and Jo was glad when she regained the privacy of her room, unseen.

  Pulling on the old nightie that Karen deplored, Jo moved over to stand in front of her full-length mirror. She felt different, as if Adam had made her come alive, aware of herself as a woman who was desired by a man.

  Tonight he had aroused powerful emotions in her—a force six gale, strong enough to sway trees. Strong enough to batter down the barriers surrounding her heart.

  Wandering over to the north window, she looked out toward Adam's house, marked by the bright, shining light.

  Pensive, she sat down on the sill to think, leaning back against the side of the window, bare legs stretched out in front of her, her gaze on the light. The warm mountain air was refreshing to her overheated body. Over and over she recalled the happenings of the evening, again experiencing the warm rich glow of Adam's kisses.

  Stretching, she turned out her light and lay down on top of the sheet. The moon beams entered her east window, lighting up the bed so that she fell asleep clothed in its brightness, dreaming of Adam.

  The next day Adam’s phone buzzed once more. A text from Johnny. Jo was riding Paca this afternoon, according to Karen, headed for the mountains again. Karen also included Jo’s cell number, not knowing he already had it.

  The ranch accounts he had been working on could wait. He walked out to the corrals and saddled Rocket. Murray saw him and ran over to join, always ready for a run.

  “Want to bet she’ll head back to our lookout spot, Murray?” he asked the dog.

  Rocket was eager to go and started out at a fast trot that was jarring. Adam nudged him into a lope, then pulled down to a walk as he entered the trees.

  He had put Jo’s number into his speed dial and punched it in.

  “Hi there,” she said.

  “Hello yourself. Where’re you headed?”

  “Are your spies busy at work?”

  “Oh, yes. Karen called Johnny. Even offered up your cell number.”

  He could hear her laughter. “I thought I’d ride up to the big meadow area, then circle around to your place, to my favorite lookout area, around sunset.”

  “That’s my favorite spot, too.”

  “Really? I never ran into you there.”

  “I didn’t know how you’d react, so always checked before I went. I didn’t want you to feel like you couldn’t go.”

  “Want to ride with me? I can wait by the fence corner on the first ridge.”

  “I’m already on Rocket. I’ll see you there.”

  He hurried the gelding along, eager to see Jo again. He got to the fence corner at the same time she did, and let himself through the gate.

  She had been taking it easy on Paca, as the horse was not in the same shape as Rocket, whom Adam rode practically every day.

  “Paca is sweating like a town horse,” Jo said, referring to the horses that were put in trailers and brought to the mountains, and still couldn’t go far without being tired.

  “We’ll get her back in shape this summer.”

  Rocket kept wanting to run, now that they were on the dirt road. Adam pulled him next to Paca, so that they could ride side by side.

  “Did you do any riding in Virginia?” he asked, knowing some things about her school time, from Karen, but wanting to hear more.

  “A little. They’ve got some good mountains there. Limestone based, rather than our volcanic soil. I rented a horse now and then. It just isn’t the same, to ride a livery horse, when you’ve had your own. Paca responds to my every move, whereas rental horses don’t know what you want.”

  He nodded. “You’re right. They’ve had too many riders. Did you enjoy your time there?”

  “Most of it. Two of my friends, Perri and Stormy, started a group they called the Sisters of Spirit. To be a member, you had to be from the western part of the U.S. Although we did have an honorary member at the start, Jennel Foster, who was from Boston. She was in the same room as Stormy, so got included.”

  “Did you date anyone?” He really shouldn’t ask that question. She might have gotten engaged, even. But she had been his, in his mind, for so long, it seemed impossible that she—-

  “Actually quite a few. When I was a freshman, we dated singly. But then…” She paused.

  “Then?” Her pause hadn’t sounded right.

  “I went to a frat party with Jennifer, a girl in the dorms. Not one of the Sisters, although Stormy was there. Most of them were drinking heavily, and I don’t drink. They kept pressing me. I went to tell Jennifer that I was leaving, and found her fighting off a man. He dropped her and came after me. I hit him and that really made him mad. Fortunately, Stormy saw what was happening and charged in, yelling, fists flailing, on the attack as only Stormy can do it. He backed off then and left the three of us. So one of the things the Sisters did was double date together, especially on a first date. We were all far from our families, and relied on each other. I was usually available, so would round up some fellow I felt I could trust and make up a second couple.”

  “Good idea. Do you ladies still see each other?”

  “As much as we can. I went to a wedding just before I got here and saw all of them and their husbands. Most are married. I’ll show you the pictures when they arrive. I’ve been keeping the group going, while I was in school.”

  “Is it very big?”

  “There’s only five in it. Four, now that I’ve left. Robyn, Eden, Summer, and Gail. It all depends on what western girls we have at the time, in our section of the dorms.”

  “It sounds like a good group, a way to help each other.”

  “We helped with school work, too. Perri knew five or six languages. She always got called on to help. And Jennel was artistic. She helped us illustrate things.”

  “What was your specialty?”

  “Math. I was always good at it. Especially after Mom home-schooled us for two years. No one to hold me back. She gave me the math books and I fairly flew through them.”

  “You can help me keep the ranch books,” Adam suggested, picturing her at the desk in his room. “They take up a huge amount of my time. The government always has some records they want kept. Forms filled out.”

  “I should do that for Dad. Gramps used to do it, but Dad had to take over when things went on the computer.”

  So, she wasn’t going to rise to his suggestion? He had fun seeing her reactions to his more outrageous remarks. “How’s Gra
mps this morning?”

  “He seems to be taking all this fairly well. I’m really surprised.”

  “We might have been able to end his feud a long time ago.”

  “I don’t know. The memory of Grandmother Anna was strong at first. Her death almost killed him.”

  Busy talking, they turned onto the road leaving the meadow area. As they headed down towards his ranch, he pointed to the cellular towers in the distance.

  “Certain spots aren’t covered. Like here. No signal at all. It’s not cost effective to bring them into the mountain areas.”

  “No. I can see— Look!”

  They were upon the men before they realized, two figures, grabbing their tools and running to a truck. Adam raced his horse closer to see if he could read the license, then realized the plate was missing.

  The barrel of a rifle poked out the opening in the back window, and he pulled Rocket up short, just as a shot rang out. Jo was close behind him and he motioned her back and to the side of the road, behind a tree.

  The truck continued bouncing down the road and out of sight.

  “That didn’t hit you, did it?” he asked her. “Or Paca?”

  “No.”

  They rode back to where the truck had been parked. Two of Adam’s calves were tied up to a tree. He put them back in the pasture and turned them loose, then went back to the fence with its cut wire.

  He pulled his wire cutters out of his saddlebags and tried to fix the gap. There was a little extra wire where it had been fixed once before, two posts over. He walked over there and loosened that wire, reattached it shorter, then pulled it through the staples until he could join the sections and fence the gap again. It sagged, as he didn’t have a fence-puller, but it would keep the cows in. Not the bull, but as soon as they got back, he and Johnny would drive up here and mend it right.

  “They’re getting bold,” he said, rejoining Jo. “And they’re carrying a gun. Until we get them caught, I want you to ride in your lower pasture. Stay off these mountain roads.”

  “But…”

  “Or else call, and I’ll ride with you. With a gun. We should catch them soon. They were careless today.”

  “Did you know either of them?” Jo asked.

  “No. But I didn’t get a good look.”

  “Neither did I. But I looked at Rocket. His ear is bleeding.”

  Adam walked to his horse’s head. Sure enough, Rocket’s ear had been clipped, a notch in it the same way they notched cattle ears. Except this notch was circular.

  “I thought I heard the bullet go by. But Rocket didn’t flinch, so I didn’t notice this,” he said.

  “You were too busy getting me out of the way.”

  “Well, we now know what type of men we’re dealing with. I’ll alert the other ranchers. And the sheriff.”

  They discussed the way the ranchers had organized themselves, with Adam being their eyes. Then, with a little bit of hurry, they reached the lookout just in time to see the sun go down.

  “This is perfect,” Jo said.

  “Yes, it is,” Adam agreed. She had been the one thing missing from this spot, every evening he had come here. They lingered until they had to leave. He rode with her to the corner gate, saw her out, then rode home happier than he’d ever been.

  Saturday morning dawned hot and dry. It didn't take her meteorologist training to know that when the barometric pressure dropped and the air grew heavy with an oppressive stillness, a thunderstorm was building up.

  Her dad and Mike had one field to finish before the storm broke, so Jo offered to milk Penny while they moved the haying equipment. At her call, the Jersey ran up to the gate, milk flying, anxious to enter the barn.

  Jo enjoyed milking, it was a time of simple pleasure, the contentment of the cow chewing her grain, the quietness of the cool milk shed and the sound of milk entering the pail. Nearby stood the usual couple of cats who came in for a drink. One was mewing softly, mouth open, and Jo sent it a squirt, getting more on the floor and its face than in its mouth.

  Jo rested her head against Penny's warm flank and listened absently to the milk hitting the bucket, tinny at first, then, as it filled, the tones deepened accordingly. She concentrated on the restful "shoosh, shoosh" of the milk, thinking of Adam.

  Drifting in thought, she remembered his kisses, the touch of his hands, the deeply thrilling murmur of his voice. She could listen to him endlessly, the way he laughed, deep in his throat — even his teasing was becoming enjoyable.

  She had a growing confidence in him, a trust that he would not hurt her in any way. She had never felt like this towards anyone outside her family.

  Mystified, Jo shook her head. Was she falling in love with Adam? She had know him for years, but the dream image was so powerful it could color her feelings.

  Then there could so easily be another reason for Adam's apparent wooing of her. The lease. Four years was not that long if a person was prepared to wait.

  Jo's hands ached all the way up to her shoulders by the time she opened the wooden bails to release Penny. She'd have to ask Karen to milk at night until her hands re-accustomed themselves to the task.

  At breakfast, Jo told her dad about how Adam helped her free Paca and mentioned his participation in the Blue Mountain Livestock Patrol. What she was in effect saying was, "Here's someone I'm interested in."

  Gramps was present at the table, fussing with the oatmeal he once liked but now despised because he had to eat it. He commented that it took a rogue to catch a rogue, and then changed the subject. She didn’t tell him about seeing the thieves. He didn’t know she had ridden with Adam.

  Near the end of breakfast the phone rang and Karen answered it. "It's for you, Jo. It's Adam," she said, nervously.

  Gramps choked on his food, as Jo hurried across the room, worried. Adam was pushing things. Why was he calling? Her hand shook as she picked up the phone. This wasn't what she wanted. This was too soon.

  "Hello."

  "Good morning, Jo." His calm, quiet voice did little to abate the agitated rhythm of her heartbeat. "Can Gramps hear you?"

  "Yes." Gramps' presence, plus curiosity, kept her from hanging up on him.

  "Does he know I'm on the line?"

  "Yes!"

  Adam chuckled softly at the way she snapped the word. "Good. I'm going to run some salt blocks out to several areas this morning. Won't take more than a couple of hours, so how about I swing by in twenty minutes and pick you up?"

  "I don't know. Don't you think you're....uh...." Jo paused, unable to speak freely.

  "No, I don't. You already told him you want to date me."

  "So I did, but—"

  "You coming or not?"

  She wanted to. Oh, how she wanted to. Jo turned so she could see her grandfather. He was talking to her father, who was shaking his head, saying, "She's twenty-three. I can't stop her."

  "Humph" Knocking over his coffee cup, her grandfather scrambled to his feet and stomped out of the kitchen, muttering dire threats against Adam.

  Putting her hand over the mouthpiece, Jo said, "Will you need me this morning, Dad?"

  "Not today. Go ahead."

  Lifting her hand, she spoke to Adam. "I'll be ready when you come."

  "Bring a swimsuit. See you." He hung up.

  Jo stared at the receiver. She didn't know how much of the conversation Gramps had heard, but his reaction hadn't seemed as explosive as it had two days ago. Maybe he was getting resigned to the idea.

  Jo walked over to where her father was sitting, silently observant. "Here's your lunch."

  He took it from her. "Thanks. I take it Adam's coming this morning."

  "Yes." Her eyes sparkled in anticipation. "Is Gramps okay?"

  "He seems to be. Just don't throw Adam at him too fast." He stood up to leave. "See you this evening."

  As her father closed the door, Jo turned to Karen. "I'm leaving in twenty minutes. If we hurry, I'll have time to help with the dishes."

  "Don't bother, I'll
do them."

  "Would you?"

  "I'm cutting out a dress today. With the men working straight through, I won't have to stop until supper. So I'll clean up. You go get ready."

  "Thanks. I smell like the barn." Jo said, racing up the stairs.

  "That's never bothered you before," Karen yelled after her.

  It took Jo the entire twenty minutes, five to shower, ten to dry and style her hair, and the other five to dress. She rejected her new T-shirts in favor of an old mossy green one that accented her hazel eyes — and was nice and loose. Pulling on a new pair of jeans and moccasins, she was ready just as Adam's truck rolled up the drive.

  "Thanks, Karen," she yelled as she took the steps two at a time and ran out the door, hopping into Adam's blue pick-up almost before it pulled to a stop.

  "What's the hurry? Running away from something?" he kidded as he reversed to turn and go down the drive. She sat back with a sigh of satisfaction. "Or maybe," he added, "you couldn't wait to see me again."

  She glanced his way. He was too sure of himself. And looking fit and rugged in jeans and tank top. There should be a law against muscular men wearing tank tops.

  "I wanted to put on a good act for Gramps."

  "Did you tell him where we're going?"

  "No. He didn't wait around to hear. But he's no longer telling me to stay away from you."

  "Great! I like your T-shirt," said Adam. "It matches your eyes."

  “Thanks. I bought some new ones yesterday, but I was afraid we might be crawling through barbed wire and I didn't want to risk tearing them."

  "There are gates where we'll be today." He shifted down, the truck inching up the last hill into the timber. It was a four-wheel-drive with high clearance, so they traveled easily along the mountain roads.

  “Our gate was left open—the one to the mountain pastures. I had to close it as I went through yesterday,” she said. “I could see where a truck had driven through.”

  “Were there any tire prints? Enough so Sheriff Allerton could get a cast?”

  “No. I don’t think so. The edges were not clear.”

  "Slide over," he said. "You're too far away." In agreement, Jo scooted to the center of the bench-style seat.

  Adam caught the fragrance of her hair and sniffed. "Umm, you smell good." He sniffed again. "Coconut?"